Reshuffling at Time Inc. to Set Table for Spinoff

By LESLIE KAUFMAN

October 31, 2013

Seeking to increase revenue by building a closer partnership between business and the newsroom, Time Inc. said on Thursday that the editors of its individual magazines would report directly to the company’s business side for the first time in its history, instead of the editor in chief of Time Inc.

The company said it was eliminating the position of editor in chief and instead bringing back Norman Pearlstine, who was editor in chief from 1995 to 2005, to take on a new role as executive vice president and chief of content.

Mr. Pearlstine, 71, is moving from Bloomberg L.P., which he joined in 2008 and where he was also chief content officer.

Time Inc. said that the current editor in chief, Martha Nelson, the first woman to hold that position, would be leaving the company. Ms. Nelson had held the job only since January, though she has been with Time Inc. for 20 years and served as founding editor of InStyle as well as editor of People.

Time Inc., the nation’s largest magazine company, said the changes were meant to strengthen the leadership team before it is spun off from its parent company, Time Warner, which is expected to happen early next year. It also said it wanted to encourage innovation to happen more quickly.

Norman Pearlstine is back.

Astrid Stawiarz / Getty Images

In a surprisingly frank memo to the staff, Joseph A. Ripp, who became Time Inc.’s chief executive in September, said the goal of bringing back Mr. Pearlstine would be to break down barriers between the business and journalism sides.

“We believe effective collaboration across business and editorial lines is imperative if we are to succeed as an independent company,” Mr. Ripp wrote in the memo.

“With the headwinds facing our industry, we must approach our business through a more entrepreneurial lens and break free from bureaucracy. We are confident this new structure will create a strong partnership between business and editorial, promote creativity and result in a cohesive vision for each of our brands that will be essential to long-term growth,” he wrote.

Mr. Pearlstine worked for more than two decades at The Wall Street Journal before joining Time Inc. While at Bloomberg, he oversaw growth in television, radio, magazine and digital products and also supervised Bloomberg Government, a web-based subscription service covering legislative and regulatory issues.

As chief content officer, Mr. Pearlstine will supervise all Time Inc. brands, which include such household names as Fortune and People, and look for growth across other platforms, including digital and television.

In a phone interview, Mr. Pearlstine said that even though the editors would be reporting to business executives who had responsibility for the magazine’s profitability, they would also have a direct line to him so he could arbitrate any disputes that might arise.

Martha Nelson is leaving Time Inc. She has been at Time for 20 years and was founding editor of InStyle and editor of People.

Mike Coppola / Getty Images

He said he would make sure the brands maintained their journalistic integrity and independence, but said he thought that having editors report to the “people responsible to the P&L leads to a better quality product and more responsive one.”

Just months ago, Bloomberg hired Justin Smith to be chief executive of the Bloomberg Media Group. Mr. Smith was lured from Atlantic Media, where he earned praise for developing digital media products.

His arrival at Bloomberg gave rise to speculation that he would supersede Mr. Pearlstine as creator of new products.

Time Inc. is at a challenging crossroads. Time Warner said in March that it would separate its print publications into a new company, allowing its main business to focus on the more lucrative television and film assets. That means Time Inc. will be on its own in a very tough market for magazines.

Mr. Pearlstine said he left Bloomberg mostly because of his relationship with Mr. Ripp, which goes back decades.